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| [PHOTO: Dag Endresen/Flickr/CC BY 2.0] |
Washington: In the midst of an ongoing global financial turmoil and
rising food prices, a new toolkit designed by the World Bank seeks to assist
countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region to ensure the health,
food and nutritional security of the most vulnerable, especially poor mothers
and young children.
LAC is more vulnerable to natural disasters, food price
volatility and humanitarian crises than other regions. Against this background,
any new crisis and emergency situation represents a heavy toll on the
nutritional status of the population, notably children. It is estimated that 7.2 million children
under five years of age are chronically malnourished in the region.
The study, “How to Protect and Promote the Nutrition of
Mothers and Children: A Toolkit for
Stable, Crisis, and Emergency Situations,” involved 130 survey participants in
12 LAC countries. It shows that most crisis-response policies and programs have
overlooked the essential nutritional needs of mothers and their children in the
first 1000 days of life, a critical period for a child's development. In order to eradicate malnourishment in the
region, these initiatives need to be improved and prioritize the most
vulnerable groups, the study concludes.
To help countries improve the efficiency of their crisis and
emergency response, the toolkit offers policy and decision makers a clear
guidance on cost-efficient measures that can help countries better ensure the
nutritional security of the population. For instance, all countries need to
reinforce the promotion and protection of breastfeeding. A number of countries
would benefit from adapting the food and water rations given in emergencies to
the specific nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating women and children
under 2 years of age. Other suggested
measures include the prevention of micronutrient deficiencies during
emergencies, treatment of acute malnutrition, and efficient treatment of
diarrhea through the combined use of oral rehydration solution and zinc.
The findings of the study and the toolkit will be presented
during the south-south workshop “Protecting the Nutrition of Mothers and
Children: Tools for Crisis Managers”, in Panama City, on December 6 and 7.
“The first 1000 days of life of a child is a critical window
of opportunity for her growth and development. Failure to address the
nutritional needs of mothers and children as part of crisis-management results
in human suffering and missed opportunities for developing every person’s
potential,” said Keith Hansen, World Bank Director for Human Development
for Latin America and the Caribbean. “This toolkit shows that initiatives that successfully
target the nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating mothers and young
children are the best investments countries can make to protect the most
vulnerable from food insecurities and socioeconomic and environmental
instabilities. They also have a long-term impact on the country's economic
development and can break the intergenerational cycle of poverty brought about
by malnutrition."
Malnutrition decreases the children’s ability to resist
infections and disease, such as anemia and diarrhea, and causes lifelong
physical and cognitive damages.
Malnutrition rates among the poorest and least educated, as well as
indigenous populations, are comparable to rates in some Sub-Saharan Africa
countries.
The prevalence of malnutrition in the region is also the
result of national and international crises. When an economic crisis hits, the
quality of food purchased by families diminishes.
“During crisis, poor families tend to reduce the quantity of
food they consume or replace for lower quality alternatives, such as foods with
refined sugar and fats, and even cut down on preventive health services," said Marie Chantal Messier, World Bank Senior Nutrition
Specialist and lead author of the toolkit. “During harsh times, women frequently consume less food to
protect their children's diet, which compromises their own nutritional
security. If they are pregnant, this creates a cycle that harms both the
mothers’ and their children’s health.”
Malnutrition is not limited to the quantity and the quality
of food consumed by the population, but it is also related to access to potable
water, sanitation and health services. The study encourages governments and
development partners to maximize limited financial and management resources, by
prioritizing initiatives encompassing the sector of health, nutrition,
agriculture, water and sanitation, and social protection.
The toolkit is the result of an assessment that compared
international benchmarks with initiatives adopted by 12 countries from the
Latin American and the Caribbean: Bolivia, Colombia, Dominica, El Salvador,
Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Lucia, and St.
Vincent. Countries were selected for the study taking into account their
poverty level, malnutrition rates, susceptibility to natural disasters and
increase in vulnerability as a result of the recent global financial crisis and
food price hikes.